Infant seats that allow an infant to lie in a slightly upright position have been known for many years. These infant seats generally include a frame having a base and a seat support angled up from the base at an appropriate angle. A fabric covering is mounted over the seat support to receive the infant. Some of these infant seats incorporate a bounce feature. For example, the frame can be designed so that the seat support can be “bounced” relative to the base. This bouncing movement often soothes and pacifies the infant.
Infant seats typically are lightweight so that a caregiver can pick up and move the infant seat to any room in the house. The caregiver thus can keep the infant close, yet need not hold the infant at all times. Although the infant seats are portable, the frame of most infant seats is fixed. Thus, once assembled, the infant seat cannot be easily collapsed or stored compactly. In addition, because the infant seat cannot be collapsed, it is inconvenient to take the infant seat on vacations or other travel.
In an effort to make infant seats more portable and more easily stored, some infant seats have been designed with frames in which the base of the frame can pivot relative to the seat support of the frame. These infant seats can include a pivot at a location at the front of the seat where the base meets the seat support; that is, where the seat support angles up from the base. Thus, the infant seat frame can be collapsed into a relatively flat arrangement. In addition, some infant seats have been designed so that the seat support of the frame includes a pivot so that the seat support can be folded into a more compact arrangement. Although, when these latter infant seats are collapsed, the height dimension of the infant seats can be made smaller, and the length of the seat support of the frame can be shortened, the length of the base of the infant seat frame remains the same. That is, the infant seat, when in the collapsed position, has a length at least equal to the length of the base of the infant seat frame.
Thus, there is a need for an infant seat that can be folded into a very compact arrangement for travel and storage.